Arizona’s Record-Low Solar PPA Price Falls To Nevada’s 2.3-Cent Bid 

Recently, the Central Arizona Project (CAP) secured the lowest confirmed solar price in the U.S.by getting an approved a 20-year power-purchase agreement at $24.99 per megawatt-hour. 

The recent Arizona record could be dethroned by projects that utility NV Energy decided as part of its combined resource planning. The portfolio of 1,001 megawatts of solar size and 100 megawatts/400 megawatt-hours of energy storage still requires endorsements from Nevada’s utility regulators.

Solar Cost Drops With Huge Solar Projects

If this all occurs, the most inexpensive established U.S. solar price would be Sempra Renewables’ Copper Mountain Solar 5 project coming in at $21.55 per megawatt-hour. That 250-megawatt project, though, possesses a 2.5 percent annual increase as part of its 25-year agreement, so the low upfront charge wouldn’t last forever.

So, where else can we look?  Maybe we can direct our attention to 8minutenergy’s 300-megawatt Eagle Shadow Mountain Solar Farm, which measures in at a flat rate of $23.76 per megawatt-hour completely during its 25-year PPA term.

That adequately beats the CAP project on pricing, while passing forward 10 times the capacity. It also indicates a substantial increase on the $29.50 per megawatt-hour median pricing for standalone solar PV in Xcel’s popular solicitation six months ago.

"We’ve always expected prices to drop a lot," said Colin Smith, a solar markets analyst at GTM Research. "With everything that’s happened with tariffs recently, I’m surprised to see them this low this soon."

The historical low came just months after the White House forced import tariffs on crystalline-silicon solar cells and modules, which critics calculated would diminish total U.S. installations by 11 percent over the next five years.

How Do They Do It

The earthshaking pricing was achieved through the sophisticated plans and engineering, but also considers how far solar equipment and installation practices have come, 8minutenergy CEO and originator Martin Hermann wrote in an email recently:

"Eagle Shadow Mountain is unique because it’s located in an area of great solar irradiance and with remarkable access to transmission assets," he announced. "We are able to benefit from low interconnection costs, for example, by utilizing transmission assets that had previously been allocated for the Reid Gardner coal plant, ensuring that those assets are not stranded."

The low pricing has the utility world very excited as well.  With that excitement, solar companies like HahaSmart take their bow.  Successful projects like these discussed can only lead to the great normality of solar panel used as the fundamental agent of power production in the United States.  And, as we know in all industries, as more people purchase similar goods, the prices eventually fall.  Not to mention that there are may incentives all over the country that can help people from all walks of life buy their solar panel system, try our price checker tool and see how affordable solar really is. We can also help find qualified solar installers who can help save you money on the cost of going solar.

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